It was a beutiful mornign in Van Horn! We awoke darkness so that we could get an early start on the day. Before long, the sun began to rise and the morning greeted us with beautiful colors.
We stoped at the Post Office so that I could mail some shredded bib shorts back to where I bought them and to send our spare tent off to California. This process took a while because I had to find paper to wrap the tent in.
Brian was super anxious today and punch in the miles. I enjoyed the day behind him and spent most of the day dreaming of this or that.
It was the prefect time of day for shadow-shot.
Were were on our way to the Guadalupe Mountains, where the the highest peak in Texas is located.
The road there was not busy at all. We were on our way to what I've been told is the least visited national Park in the country.
"Entering Mountain Time Zone"
Yay!
We found our way to US 63 or something like that and had to share the road with a bunch of trucks. The high winds in the area were blowing me around like a rag doll.
There it is! El Capitan! One of the peaks of the Guadalupe Mountains.
The climb up was nothing spectacular, but I was taking it slow. My body seems to be falling apart. Today, my knees were aching me - not a good sign for hill climbing.
The great thing about taking your time on rides like this is that you get to experience wonderful sights like these!
And these!
El Capitan is the left most peak, with the little nub just to the right of it being the highest peak in Texas.
After 60 or so miles, we found our way inside of the park. we got set up with a camp and strapped on our shoes - we were going for a hike!
Can you see the glimpse of autumn below?
The hike up was extraordinarily steep, but being such young healthy men, we had no problem with it.
The views were amazing.
We were really unsure of where exactly the peak was. We spent a good deal of time just following the path, looking up and saying "oh, that must be it," motioning towards a few different peaks.
We were running out of day light, we had no choice, we had to run. We jogged a good portion of the trail to the top. There were quite a few parts of the trail that were simply unsafe to run on however, because of the loose or slippery terrain.
The top of the mountain offered simple spectacular views.
We did our best, but we couldn't see New Mexico from where we were.
El Capitan is on the right portion of this picture. Native Americans used to use it for navigating the land below - which was way before any of this air pollution.
Simply amazing.
8,751 feet above sea level.
We weren't really sure why American Airlines or the Post Office were able to brand this peak, but their badges decorated this peak nicely.
The hike down was for sure a little quicker than the hike up. The 9 mile loop didn't stand a chance.
We fortunately made it to camp before the sun went completely below the horizon. We fixed ourselves dinner and got ready for bed. The loaf of bread that the pastor gave us the night before combined with a can of Sloppy Joe mix filled us both up quite nicely. We had a very successful day, I'd say!
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